1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power steering apparatus which applies a steering assist force to a steering mechanism by a hydraulic pressure generated by a pump driven by an electric motor.
2. Description of Related Art
Power steering apparatuses are conventionally utilized which assist operation of a steering wheel by supplying a working oil from an oil pump to a power cylinder coupled to a steering mechanism. The oil pump is driven by an electric motor, and a steering assist force is generated by the power cylinder in accordance with the rotation speed of the electric motor. The steering assist force is not required when the steering wheel is not turned. Therefore, the electric motor is off in a straight travel steering state (a non-steering state) where the steering wheel assumes a position virtually at a steering angle midpoint and, in response to detection of a change in any of steering-related conditions, the electric motor is actuated.
However, a recent trend is that a standby driving operation is performed to drive the electric motor at a low voltage in the non-steering state to ensure a smooth rise of the hydraulic pressure.
For the electric motor control, it is necessary to determine a time point at which a steering operation is started in the non-steering state.
The electric motor control may be achieved, for example, by sensing an electric current flowing through the electric motor and increasing a driving voltage when the electric current exceeds a threshold. However, this control method suffers from such a drawback that the hydraulic pressure rise cannot keep up with an abrupt steering operation thereby resulting in a bad steering feeling.
In conventional motor-driven pump hydraulic power steering apparatuses, the driving voltage of the electric motor is set higher in the non-steering state, or a steering angle sensor for sensing a steering angle is employed for improvement of a response time of the hydraulic pressure rise. However, the former approach trades off the power consumption, and the latter approach requires an expensive component.